Some commercially available software products enable plant workers (e.g., engineers, managers, technicians and operators) to remotely address problems in the field to help keep industrial plant equipment running within safe operating limits and at optimum performance. For example, one such software product is Honeywell International's FIELD ADVISOR. The FIELD ADVISOR is a software package used by plant workers having handheld computing devices in conjunction with a wireless local area network (WLAN).
For example, the FIELD ADVISOR can improve overall plant efficiency and reliability by recording critical asset data and by ensuring the data falls within safe operating limits. If the equipment is operating outside the plant's set limits, the Field Advisor guides the worker (e.g., operator) through the necessary steps to correct the problem. For example, when an asset exceeds critical (operating) limits, appropriate actions are not always apparent to the operator and the wrong decision can have a wide range of undesirable consequences. The FIELD ADVISOR can provide information that ensures the worker considers operating limits up front, which can improve overall production efficiency and safety.
The FIELD ADVISOR running on the operator's handheld computer device can be used in conjunction with a wireless mesh network. This solution allows the workers to download specific tasks and instructions (from the network server), and then upload results (to the network server) for reporting after the tasks are completed. Such communications helps plant maintenance, operations, and reliability teams share information between them more quickly, supervisors plan shift workloads more effectively, and allows new workers (e.g., operators) to be trained at a faster pace.